CUSTOMER INFORMATION

About Us

“BagsandBriefcases, where quality, style, customer service and affordability are the priority in all that we do”

Like many businesses, here at BagsandBriefcases we started out online on eBay in August 2007 with what was intended as a hobby turning preloved products in must have styles into cash. At the time Andy Burgess (that’s me by the way) spent weekdays travelling around the UK visiting hotels and restaurants in my full-time role selling produce to appear on chef's menu’s, and in doing so seemed to be forever purchasing new briefcases, document folio’s / presenters and travel bags of varying grades of leather.

In addition, I am the proud father two daughters who both really appreciate some of the finest luxury leather handbags from a certain well-known brand based here in Somerset, I’m referring to Mulberry a brand that even tempted my wife on occasions. So on a regular basis, we all found ourselves visiting the Mulberry factory shop in Shepton Mallet Somerset at which time I myself was tempted into purchasing “slight seconds” at a very discounted price then taking them home and spending hours taking good quality images and listing them on eBay. After a couple of years it was more a case of me wanting to go to factory shop and often having to drag my wife and daughters along, just to stop the strange look Mulberry’s customers would give me as I would quickly tour round the shelves removing large quantities of handbags and messenger bags and the odd few briefcases. Often I would leave with my car packed with about 20 purchases, but safe in the knowledge that eBay had millions of adoring Mulberry fans looking to purchase their lovely leather creations which would always deliver me a modest profit and yet save my customers money it was a win-win business model.

As with all good business models there was over a period of a couple of years an increase of famous brands “Outlet Stores” cropping up around the country and both my supply line and profit margins were being squeezed to the point of no return, as with any business facing such challenge it was time to rethink my business model. Firstly I created ISAMBARD Bristol branded leather bags and briefcases all made within a few miles of the Clifton Suspension Bridge one of Isambard Kingdom Brunel’s greatest legacies and an area that will always be special to me as its where I met my lovely (and very understanding) wife of 30+ years. All products were and still are made by hand to order in small leather craft workshop using traditional tools and the very finest leathers and brass ware, hence the 18-22 day production on each ISAMBARD product.

To compliment the ISAMBARD Bristol range I wanted a more cosmopolitan branded range of leather bags and briefcases, which were available in much larger quantities. Although this new range had to be of highest quality and preferably still produced in Western Europe, where standards of quality control are very high and the worker's environment and conditions were compatible with our standards in the UK. After 12 months research and sampling, I signed up as an authorized stockist of the Tuscany Leather range of goods produced by artisan craft workers using the very finest Italian leather. Now 4 years on I can honestly say (and more importantly my customer feedbacks on eBay would agree) that Tuscany Leather was worth the effort in searching out as our partnership has been to both parties business benefit. Tuscany Leather’s quality control and attention to detail coupled with their excellent customer service are underpinned by the 2-year guarantee that accompanies every product produced and sold.

Here in the present day with version three of BagsandBriefcases website, which has come about to be totally responsive as we all use our smartphones and tablets when out and about to do our shopping more. This version is also aimed at offering a simpler and quicker shopping experience with no gimmicks or extra marketing for customers to navigate through, hopefully, this results in a far more pleasant experience for all!

So can I be the first to welcome you to our new website and please sign up to our newsletter to receive special offers and discount codes, thank you for visiting.